Never forgotten
by Bellamaus
Summary: Where was Nori and what did he do when Smaug attacked his home? When fire and panic put the dwarves to flight? There was only one thing to do for the young dwarf: find his family and cut and run! (Story is also availabe in German: Auf ewig unvergessen)


Hi!

This is my first Hobbit-fanfiction (and only my third in English, so if you find any mistakes or weird things, just tell me!).

After Nori worked his wasy into my heart - don't know how exactly, but he did - he's now one of my favourite dwarves. And I think he deserves more Attention. So that's what I gave him.

This story is based on the movie.

In my mind Nori is around 140 years in the movie, that makes him ca 80 when Smaug destroyed Erebor. Oh, and I made him a guardsmen in the lonely mountain. Admittedly, I think he was always susceptible for the not so decent way of life but I'm sure that he didn't spend his whole life on its illegal side.

Ori isn't Born yet.

I also oriented myself by this thing that dwarves usually find their love only once and that Dori and Nori don't share the same father (a consideration of Mark Hadlow - Dori). Therefore public opinion shouldn't think to highly of their mother.

Okay, that's all you need to know. Have fun reading the story! I always enjoy suggestions, opinions and criticism! So just leave me a review! Thanks!

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_**Never forgotten**_

Noris body collided hart with the stone wall of the hall and slid down to the ground. His head throbbed and every bone in his body ached, but he barely registered it. With eyes wide open and his face pale he stared into the big hall. His heart hammered against his breastbone, his hands were shaking.

They had no chance.

Never in a million lives!

Agitated and clumsy he struggled to his feet. Something tickled him at his right eye and instinctively he shoved the annoying strand of hair aside. That's when he realized for the first time, that his helmet was gone. His hand came back red. It hadn't been his hair poking into his eye: he was bleeding.

His spear – the usual gear of the guard – lay broken by his side. But he still had his sword at his belt and an emergency knife in his boot.

He stumbled a few paces on unsteady feet before he could restore his balance. He ignored the pounding in his head as well as the dull pain in his forearm. In slow motion he saw his fellow guardsmen getting hurled around or simply trampled, he watched as falling rocks smashed them or as they burned alive.

Without realizing it he shook his head. No, this was suicide. Nothing but suicide.

He had to get out of here, all of them had to get out or they would die, each and every one of them.

Killed by a dragon.

Mother! Dori!

Thinking of them, dread hit him like a punch in the stomach.

His legs had started running even before he had actively decided to. He pushed other dwarves aside and tried to avoid the debris that hurtled through the air and ran. He had to find them. He had to!

It was so terribly noisy! The roaring of the dragon was droning in his chest and the shrilling of the alarm made his ears ring. From all around him he heard screaming and moaning, the clinking of metal and the cracking of rock.

Nori sprinted on, he had to get his family out.

Suddenly there were others running beside him on the long hallway into the mountain. He had no idea if they were fleeing from the dragon or trying to get to their families just like him.

That's when an exceptionally loud thundering noise sounded behind him. Just a few seconds later an enormous dust cloud enveloped him and blocked his view. Coughing he put an arm in front of his nose and mouth. With one hand on the wall he fumbled along the hallway, his eyes burning, but he couldn't stop, couldn't lose precious time. Their dwelling was near the entrance area. And he had to get there and save his mother, before the destructive force of the beast could affect this section.

Half blind he stumbled on until the dust slowly wore off and he could see again, in which direction he was dashing, even though it was blurred through his watering eyes. A shadow next to him told him of another dwarf in this area of the tunnel.

At that moment Nori heard a strange splutter and hissing, a sound he couldn't identify. Just as he was about to turn around, still running, two hands grabbed his shoulders and pushed him forward.

"Get down, lad!" screamed a voice at close quarters.

He lost his footing and fell to the ground. His left knee hurt from the impact and he'd skinned his palms. Angry he wanted to get back on his feet and shout his fury over this demeanour into this damn idiots face – he especially hated the term 'lad', he was 79 and not a child anymore! But the heavy body of his attacker hit him in the back and pushed him hard into the ground. An arm was placed over his head and held him down with his face still pressed against the dusty floor.

A single moment later everything got bright as daylight and the air burned in his lungs. Heat of unbelievable intensity swept across them. His panic almost choked him and he closed his eyes tightly like a child, as if then all the bad things would just vanish.

"Lad?" asked a hoarse voice nearby, closely followed by a cough and a jerky tug on his shoulder.

With shaky limbs he got up, his chest burning with every breath. The smell of smoke and burnt hair filled the air. As soon as he was upright again, a hand grabbed his shoulder and he looked into the face of his saviour.

"Everything alright?"

Nori had to blink a few times. He almost hadn't recognized him, but the dwarf in front of him – coated by a layer of dust, his bushy brown mane of hair now mostly scorched and still smouldering and his face bloody from a deep scratch on his cheek – was Tirell, the mate of his mother.

Tirell was the reason his life was so bloody difficult and demanding. He should've hated him for it, but in all his years with the guard he'd had to work with him and he'd had to accept, that Tirell was a decent guy and a good warrior. He loathed this fact, 'cause it made everything even more complicated, like always.

But none of this mattered at the moment.

They looked at each other and exchanged a knowing look while Nori nodded and Tirell coughed.

"Look for your brother! I'll...," his husky voice broke off with all this dusk and smoke around, "... I'll get your mother out of here."

Nori hesitated, indecisive. Tirell was okay, but could he really entrust him with the live of his mother? Did he trust him enough for that?

No, he didn't.

"Come on, Nori! Go!"

He was right. There was a dragon inside Erebor. His usual behavioural standards didn't apply here anymore.

"We'll meet outside. And...," Nori swallowed hard, „get her to safety, Tirell."

The dwarf nodded. More of his already scorched hair came off at this movement. It was a bizarre scene. Then they both ran off, Tirell soon turned left while Nori quickly darted down a flight of stairs shortly afterwards. At this time of the day – early afternoon, has it really been a normal early afternoon not long ago? – Dori was usually in the gym where he trained dwarflings of different age groups in various combat skills.

Please be there, Dori. Please! he thought time and time again like a mantra.

Even though he and his big brother mostly didn't get along – they always argued and he detested his overprotective, mothering nature above all else – he was still his brother. And as long as he didn't know if he was okay, his heart would keep on pounding in this paranoid rhythm.

His left hand felt strange as he braced himself against the wall while running down the stairs and the throbbing in his head made him oddly light-footed. He forced himself to stop for an instant to breathe deeply. Should he tumble down the steps or pass out now, it would help nobody. He had to find Dori first!

The acrid pain in his lung sobered him up a bit, but the break also made his exhaustion clear to him. Without taking the time to really observe the heaviness of his limbs and all his aching and throbbing body parts he pressed his legs to start moving again.

He rushed past bewildered and frightened dwarves until he finally reached the gym. His gaze swept frantically across the room, but he couldn't make out his brother between all these dwarves who hurried to the weapons locker and the training axes and swords on the walls to face the dangers that may wait for them.

"Dori? DORI?"

His breathing got quicker and quicker and he felt his control slip from his grasp while his fear – fear for his family, fear of the dragon and fear for his own life – slowly got the better of him. He felt increasingly dizzy and his hands were shaking so bad he could barely catch hold of the wall, when black spots started to cloud his vision.

"Nori? What are you... NORI?"

Next he knew a hand was on his shoulder. Dori stood in front of him and looked at him wide eyed, confused and worried.

He'd found him. Dori was well.

Relieved he lowered his head until it leaned against his brother's forehead, taking support and comfort from the touch. Doris skin felt surprisingly, but pleasantly, cool compared to his.

Dori however pushed him gently off.

"For Mahal's sake, Nori. You're bleeding and your hand..." Doris eyes scanned his whole body and at every other day he'd rolled his own eyes at his brothers rising concern in his gaze. And what about his hand? "We heard the alarm and Gram and Lorek took the little ones into the escape tunnels, just to be on the safe side. Nori, what's happening up there?"

As if that had been the cue the danger pushed itself back into his awareness.

"We have to get out," he gasped, suddenly hectic again, before he raised his from smoke and fire throaty voice over the hall. "All of us! We have to get out at once!"

The other dwarves – now armed and on their way upstairs – stopped and looked at him, startled. It weren't so much his words that made them stop; it was his urging and anxious tone.

A pair of hands shook him softly, but decisive, and he found himself opposite to Doris worried gaze. Nori grabbed his brother's hand and looked at him seriously. Only one word passed his lips, loud enough and clearly audible for everyone: "Dragon!"

And just like the real dragon a short while ago in the entrance hall the mere word prompted a similar hasty chaos in the gym. Not waiting for any specific reaction Nori ran off again, his grip on his brother's hand tight and with the escape tunnels in mind as best option of getting out of the mountain.

But his brother braced himself against his pulling and stopped him eventually. Uncomprehending Nori looked back.

"We have to get mother out!" exclaimed Dori and dragged Nori off into the opposite direction, back to the stairway where he came from.

"Tirell is on his way to bring her to safety," he called to his brother. Just the thought of running _towards_ the dragon made him feel sick with fear. Dori had no idea, he hadn't seen that monster...

He heard his brother snort derogatively. "Tirell..."

Dori had made no secret of his resentment to the dwarf.

Nori didn't know why he came to Tirells defence, but right now nothing was as it had once been or like it should be. "He saved my life."

That made Dori pause for a moment to have a good look at his brother, before he again faced the stairs and started sprinting up the steps. "I'm not going anywhere without her!"

Nori followed him panting. Time and again he coughed and stumbled, but his brother never let go of his hand. And despite his exertion and pain he was grateful for it.

They raced through half destroyed hallways. Rocks of different sizes were scattered all over the place, everything was covered by dust which still lingered in the air where it painted fascinating patterns. Small fires were burning here and there; everywhere the hot dragon's breath had ignited cloth and wood. Shaken at this sight Dori panted and eventually he dragged Nori along even more determined.

Together they turned into the tunnel that led to their dwelling. Nori only just managed to pull his brother back before he'd have knocked out his own brains against a wall of debris.

"No. NononononoNO!" cried Dori with increasing volume and desperation. With bare hands he tried to move away the rubble.

Paralyzed Nori stood behind him and gazed upon the wall that hadn't been there before. His mother should've been somewhere behind... hopefully nothing...

He didn't dare to finish this thought. She'll be okay. She HAD to be okay.

His head was throbbing with pain. He lifted his left hand to hold his head and that way he noticed the state of his hand for the first time. The leather of his vambraces was scorched and the back of his hand which had been directly exposed to the dragons fire was blazing red, swollen and had already started blistering.

As if his brain had needed this sight to perceive his injury the pain set in all of a sudden. He gritted his teeth and pressed his injured hand close to his chest.

Stay strong, Nori! You have to get out of here. Both of you! It's just a small burn. Nothing serious. Stay strong! You have to get out!

He swallowed hard and hardened himself against the pain. With his healthy hand he grabbed for his brothers shoulder and turned him towards him. With an emphatic look and breathing heavily he cut right to the chase of their situation.

"We'll never get through, Dori. We have to trust in Tirell and save ourselves. He...," he had difficulty to say the words out loud, "he loves her, he'll never forsake her."

Nori hated not being able to help his mother, but he was practical. They couldn't do anything. And the longer they stayed here the more the odds turned in favour of the dragon getting them or of them being killed by another cave-in. They had to rely on Tirell like he'd said.

He sent a quick prayer to Mahal to please see his mother again, unharmed.

Dori considered him with a strange look, one he couldn't read, only the worry and determination in his eyes were clear to him; he was very familiar with them after all.

His brother took his right hand.

"I'll get you out of here, Nori!"

It was a promise.

Dori always kept his promises.

Nori had almost started to cry out of relief and exhaustion. This simple line was nothing more than the assurance of his brother that he would assume responsibility now. Normally this patronization would've angered him, he would've irascibly clarified that he wasn't a child anymore, but at the moment he felt anything but adult. He was scared. He was in pain. His mind failed to comprehend how all of this was even possible. How it could've happened so fast. He was overwhelmed. And he felt helpless.

Therefore he was more than glad that Dori took the lead. So he let himself be dragged back into the hallway unquestioningly and followed his brother back towards the entrance hall. The main gate was the nearest exit.

But that's where the dragon had come from…

Dori knows what he's doin'! he told himself over and over again. He didn't want to think about all of this. He just wanted to get outside, he wanted for all of this to be over, he wanted to clasp his mother in his arms. Or even better: he wanted to wake up!

He almost stumbled into his brother as Dori abruptly stopped. The sudden change in pace made his head spin and if Dori hadn't grabbed for his arm he would've fallen into a narrow side tunnel.

With a concerned look his brother made sure that he was stable again, then he let go and turned towards the dwarf on the ground.

Dwarf on the ground?

Just now he noted the pained groaning and the pleas for help of this dwarf whose leg was trapped beneath a fallen rock. He was coated in dust all over, so it was impossible to pin him down by hair colour or clothes, but these interwoven braids in his beard seemed vaguely familiar to Nori.

"Dori? Dori! Please, help me!"

„Don't worry, we'll get you out in no time, Bragi."

Bragi! Nori remembered now, that's where he knew this beard. Of course. Bragi had been Doris combat teacher, he'd taught him how to handle the bolas, nowadays his favourite weapon.

Unexpectedly Dori drew his massive short sword and positioned it – for want of a better suited object – as a lever against the rock. He pressed with all his might, but the rock didn't move.

Impatiently Nori watched. He was unsure of what to do, until he heard it. This sound. He'd never ever forget it for as long as he'd live. This mixture of splutter and hissing.

He froze. It made his skin crawl all the way down his back.

Then he saw it: the orange light at the end of the passageway.

"Nori, lend me a hand, would you?"

Nori didn't hesitate, not for one second. Without any regard to his injured hand he grabbed his brother and pulled him away from his teacher. For a split second his gaze met Bragis. He bit his lower lip and pleaded for forgiveness with his eyes alone, before he gave his surprised brother a final push and shoved him into the side tunnel. Swiftly he threw himself upon his brother and wrenched his cloak in one motion over their heads.

"Nori, what..." his brother protested.

In the next moment the blazing breath of the dragon swept across them and Bragis shriek resounded in his ears. Despite the remote location of this small passage the heat surrounded them and took their breath away.

Only seconds later everything was over. And deadly silent. Even the alarm was quiet by now. The air was still hot, but not like earlier and this time it stank of burnt flesh.

Shaking all over Nori struggled to his feet. He could hardly breathe so much did his lung hurt from the cruelly hot air before. The smoke irritated him further and made him cough. His eyes were watering and he was glad that he therefore wasn't able to look at the dwarf he had condemned to death.

Then suddenly there were hands on his cheek and his brow.

"Nori? Are you okay?"

He blinked and gasped for air after coughing. His brother knelt in front of him.

Knelt?

Since when had he been sitting on the ground?

He nodded weakly.

"Thank Mahal!"

Dori pulled him against him und closed his arms firmly around his frame. His head sank exhausted against his brother's chest and he listened for his heartbeat: too fast, but still so much more composed than his own.

Unconsciously he gradually attuned his breathing to Doris heartbeat. But with every bit he got calmer his action dawned more on him. He had saved Dori, but he had let Bragi die.

He had no idea when his breaths had turned into sobs. He couldn't remember the last time he had displayed his emotions so openly – in front of his brother or in general. But this was too much for him.

Way too much.

For a moment Dori enclosed him more firmly and his hand stroked his hair. But then his brother pushed him away gently and looked him directly in the eyes.

"We don't have time for this now, Nori," he said softly, but with authority. "We have to get out of here, okay?"

He took a few shaky breaths until he regained his composure. Agitated he wiped his tears away with the back of his right hand – most likely distributing all the dirt on his face only more.

"Can you get up?"

Nori looked at his brother puzzled. If he'd been able to see himself at this point he would've understood Doris question. Under all this dirt and dust on his face he was – as far as one could see at some places – deathly pale. His eyes on the other side were fiery red and still shimmering wet. And he was shivering, not the alarming shaking from minutes before, more a small trembling that didn't stop.

"Yes," Nori answered, uncertain because of the question.

Dori stood up and helped his little brother to his feet.

For a moment he got lightheaded, but luckily it soon passed. Dori led him back in the direction of the main gate, but stopped again and closed both his hands around Noris face.

„You just saved my life, little brother." He lent forward and pressed a kiss on his dusty and sweaty brow. "Thank you!"

But Nori knew that he'd also taken a life with his action. Nonetheless, this thanks from his brother and, by implication, his understanding of his decision, too, gave him new strength.

Dori grabbed his uninjured hand again and steered him out of the passage and back into the hallway in such a way that there was no possibility for him to see Bragis corpse. Somehow he was grateful for that, too.

They hurried along the corridor. The closer they got to the main hall the worse was the destruction and the more corpses did they see along the way. Unknown faces but soon also familiar ones.

Desperately Nori tried to block out everything around him. But in the hall it didn't work out anymore. The mighty dragon had broken down almost all of the pillars and his colleagues of the guard lay around everywhere, their limbs twisted unnaturally or burned and their eyes empty.

Dori dragged him on relentlessly, on into the current of other fugitives, and helped him climbing towards the exit over debris and rocks. A small dwarfling pulled at his leg and looked helplessly at him. He grabbed his hand and hauled him unceremoniously onto the rock he just clambered. This done the child scurried weaselly away over the remaining rock debris und soon cried for his mum.

Everywhere children and old ones, men and women ran and scrambled for their lives. Their fear was written on their faces, more than a few were injured. Dori assisted a young woman in climbing over a piece of pillar, an old dwarf steadied Nori as he started faltering; all of them had the same goal and most of them instinctively helped when somebody near them needed it. At least if it didn't slow down their own escape more than a few seconds.

A tremendous roar behind them filled the hall with panicked outcries, but thankfully the dragon didn't show up.

Wheezing Nori pulled himself over another big rock, this time however he wearily lost his grip. He tried to get a hold of Dori, but he was to slow.

"NORI!"

He skidded over the rock surface until at the end he tumbled down the last two meters. His impact was surprisingly soft. Still dizzy from his fall he rested on his arms, when he realized that he'd landed on another dwarf. An apology already on his lips he raised his head and gazed upon two empty eye sockets in a black face.

Hastily he slid down from the corpse. The dwarf must have been behind an obstacle when the fire had hit him, for his body was barely burned only his head. His helmet had melted in the heat of the dragon's breath and solidified again in this new and grotesque form of his incinerated skull.

Nori only just heard the heavy footfalls of Dori who'd jumped down to him when he lost the battle with his body. His arms trembled with the effort of holding his upper body while he disposed of the contents of his stomach in the most undignified way possible.

He'd never seen a battle nevertheless a corpse from so close. Above all, not SUCH a corpse. But he was a dwarf, a guard, he shouldn't…

A hand placed itself between his shoulder blades just as he sat up again. Ashamed of his weakness he didn't dare look upon his brother.

Dori laid a hand around his shoulders, with the other he grabbed his upper arm and pulled him back on his feet. "We're almost there. Just a little bit further."

This time his brother took his uninjured arm and slung it around his shoulder to support him. Nori wanted to protest, but after only a few steps he had to realize that Dori had the better intuition of them both. His legs gave way again and again, no matter how hard he tried and his head and chest ached even more than before since his vomiting. Let alone his left arm he didn't want to even think about.

He barely noticed where his brother led him to. At least they didn't have to climb anymore. Und suddenly everything was bright, so bright he had to blink and look away. And the air felt better, cleaner and less stifling.

They were outside. They had done it!

Nori stumbled along beside his brother until he finally stopped and placed him onto the ground. There was stone behind his back and he leaned gratefully against it. The fresh air did him good, it was easier to breathe and his drowsiness cleared a bit.

"Hey, Nori. Please say something! Anything."

Slowly he looked up into the dirty face of his brother who stroked his hair again and again. He had never seen him as worried as right now, he realized.

"You look terrible." Was this hoarse mumbling really his voice?

A grin spread across Doris face. He'd almost grinned back.

But at this moment he eventually noticed the noises around him. The crying, the desperate screaming, the frantic shouting of names and the sonorous swearing of the deep voices of men.

Instinctively Nori turned his head to look past Dori. They were farther away from the main gate than he would've thought. And everywhere were dirty and dusty and bloody dwarves who fly for dear life from the mountain they called home only an hour earlier.

That's when his gaze – and ear – caught a pair of dwarves not too far away from them. One was a woman with open hair, grey with dust, and she was in the arms of an older male dwarf who desperately tried to get her away from the mountain, but she struggled against his hold and cried for him to release her. Nori had never seen a scene of such pure desperation.

He'd prefer to just close his eyes and to pretend nothing ever happened. But he'd learned from early on that this practice unfortunately didn't work. Besides, there was something about this scene…

With all this dust and the uncharacteristically wild behaviour together with his splitting headache it was no surprise, he hadn't recognized her at once.

"Mum!"

The loud shouting for which he'd intended turned out as only a grateful sigh. What's more, concern and relief had let him slip from the adult 'mother' back to the childish 'mum'. But it didn't matter.

Dori followed his gaze instantly and identified her at once. He checked him over with a questioning look and Nori just nodded, knowing that his brother just wanted to be sure that he could leave him for a moment.

He observed Dori as he hurried over to those two while shouting 'mother'. She heard it, stopped struggling and when she recognized Dori, she started to cry. His brother embraced their mother happily and led her back to him. As soon as she saw him she started to run.

"Nori!"

Fiercely she hit the dirt next to him and soon the worry in her eyes surpassed her relief. She exchanged looks with Dori, caressed his cheek gently and finally engulfed him in a careful hug.

"I was so afraid for you two!" she confessed quietly.

Nori sank grateful into her arms. It had been a long time since she'd enfolded him like this, well, since he let her do it. But at the moment he didn't want to be an adult, he wanted the comfort of his mother. The comfort of his family.

And the awful tension fell slowly off of him, the terrible pain in his hand faded from his focus. The throbbing in his head and the stabbing in his chest were eased by the warmth of her embrace and the steady beat of her heart.

Now that they were all together again, he could welcome unconsciousness.

The End


End file.
